Posted on 04/30/2018 8:49:01 AM PDT by Morgana
The brother of Terri Schiavo has slammed the British court system that essentially condemned Alfie Evans to death. Bobby Schindler tells LifeNews that courts should never have prevent Afies parents from caring for their son, who ultimately died on Saturday less than a week after doctors yanked his life support without their consent.
Bobby Schindler and his family fought a losing uphill battle against the court system that decided Terri was better off dead than living as a disabled patient. He certainly understands what happens when courts and doctors say someone should die.
Alfie Evans ended up dying very early Saturday morning after the childrens hospital that was supposed to provide him with appropriate medical care and treatment disconnected his life support without his parents permission. That action came after a long and extensive legal battle between Alfies parents and Alder Hey Childrens Hospital, with the British court system agreeing with doctors by saying that Alfie was supposedly too far gone for additional care and treatment or experimental medical treatment to possibly help his neurological condition.
Now, Terri Schiavos brother Bobby Schinder is weighing in saying Alfie captured the attention of millions worldwide, and Tom and Kate Evans, his heroic parents, have embodied the best in parental love and commitment.
The head of the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network told LifeNews: Like Tom and Kate Evans, I know how terrible it is to be powerless to care for a loved one, but I cannot imagine the unique tragedy of being prevented from caring for a child in the way that the United Kingdom and European Courts barred them from exercising what so many recognize as their basic parental rights to provide care.
We will honor Alfies memory, concluded Schindler, and we will do whatever we can to affirm the value of every life, regardless of condition and the right of every parent to care for their children in a life-affirming way.
Schindler said he is encouraged by nascent discussion of Alfies Law, or similar legal reform that would restore to parents the right to provide basic and ordinary care and prohibit national authorities from needlessly substituting their own judgment or otherwise intentionally causing death as if it were a legitimate medical treatment.
The parallels of what happened in the Terri Schiavo case and what happened with little Alfie Evans are scary indeed. In both instances a court system decided that a patient is better off dead and that family ought to have no legal right whatsoever to have a say in their life or death even if those family members are willing to provide care and treatment for their loved one.
Thats why Schindler weighed in previously on the battle to save Alfies life. He said at the time that Alfie appears set to die from lack of food and water. And perversely, UK courts and physicians continue to insist that this will be in Aflies best interest, due to his cognitive state.
After Terris death, Bobby and his family started the Terri Schaivo Life and Hope Network to help other disables patients like her.
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Alfie supposedly suffered from a degenerative neurological condition and administrators at Alder Hey, which is a National Health System Foundation Trust, sought, and received, approval from the High Court to discontinue treatment in direct opposition to the wishes of Alfies parents. The High Courts decision was met with outcry around the world, and was condemned by world leaders including European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, Polish president Andrezej Duda, and Pope Francis.
Bambino Gesu hospital in Rome offered to treat Alfie and he was granted Italian citizenship to expedite his transport to Italy. However, the High Court prohibited Evans and James from removing their son from Alder Hey.
Alfies father Tom Evans spent the last 10 minutes of the 23-month-old little boys life desperately trying to revive him with mouth to mouth.
Meanwhile, Alfies mother Kate has posted a poem remembering Alfie that has already been shared thousands of times on Facebook.
In posts on Facebook, Alfies mother and father confirmed his passing.
Our baby boy grew his wings tonight at 2:30 am. We are heart broken. Thank you everyone for all your support, she wrote.
My gladiator lay down his shield and gained his wings at 02:30 absolutely heartbroken, the boys father Tom Evans wrote on Facebook.
Family friend Laura McKenzie said: Tom and Kate really appreciate everyone coming and showing their love.
The whole world showed how much Alfie was loved and well never, ever, ever forget him or his name. No one will.
After his death, family and supporters of Alfie Evans celebrated his life in pictures and hundreds of tearful supporters of Alfie Evans and his family gathered at a park near Alder Hey Childrens Hospital to release balloons to honor the little boy after his death. And Pope Francis expressed the kind of sentiments that people around the world are expressing. He talked about his sadness and he talked about Alfie being embraced by the Lord in heaven.
I am deeply moved by the death of little Alfie. Today I pray especially for his parents, as God the Father receives him in his tender embrace, the pope tweeted on Saturday.
The legal battle sparked anger nationwide in England but also internationally as people stood up for Alfies parents and strongly opposed courts and hospitals making life and death decisions for patients over their families objections.
There is concern that the hospital contributed to his death.
As LifeNews reported, after removing his life support without permission, officials at Alder Hey Childrens Hospital waited 28 hours before finally feeding the 23-month old boy, who was fighting a rare neurological condition. Alfies Father Tom Evans confirmed at the time that his son was finally being fed but he condemned hospital officials for waiting so long to finally get him the nutrition he needs.
They only started feeding him at one oclock yesterday. Its disgusting how hes being treated, Evans said. Not even an animal would be treated like this. Hes proving them wrong. Its time to give him some grace and dignity and let him go home or to Italy.
The other day, Alfies parents changed course and decided to end their battle.
Alfie Evans father Tom Evans called for supporters of Alfie and his family to stand down so they can begin building a bridge with Alder Hey Childrens Hospital and its staff. The statement from Alfies father was surprising given the animosity that had developed between the Evans family and the hospital. Hospital officials have spent months in court preventing Alfies family from taking him to a hospital in Italy or even taking him home. Hospital officials even went as far as misleading courts by saying that they never said Alfie would die quickly after his life support was removed even though they initially said Alfie would die within minutes after yanking his life support over his parents objections.
But perhaps seeing that there was little opportunity left to fight for Alfies rights and their right to take him abroad or take him home or sensing a need to appease the hospital to bring him home, Tom Evans struck a conciliatory tone.
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Later, the family of Alfie Evans blasted a false news report saying his parents are supposedly preparing for his death.
Alfies parents had hoped to take the little boy to the hospital in order to potentially get experiemental treatment that could help his rare degenerative neurological condition but courts repeatedly denied that. Justice Hayden ruled that Alfies family would not be able to fly him to Italy for treatment and appeared to say that this was the final decision related to his case. He said flying Alfie to Italy could harm his health because, as court testimony indicated, the flight could trigger possible continuous seizures due to stimulations of the flight. But Alfies parents are concerned Alfie will die if he doesnt get care and possible experimental treatment in Italy.
A British doctors group, The Medical Ethics Alliance, expressed its horror over the treatment of Alfie Evans that it called a medical tyranny.
And Italys Healthcare Chief has slammed the decisions by UK courts to treat Alfie the way that they had. The President of the Italian National Institute of Health lambasted the UK High Courts decision yesterday on Alfie Evans that resulted it the childrens hospital being allowed to remove life support over Alfies parents objections.
Pope Francis repeatedly spoken on Alfies behalf and urged that Alfies parents be allowed to bring him to Italy.
Members of Parliament are leading a new campaign for a law to prevent the tragic situation happening to Alfie Evans and his parents from happening to any other family. The new campaign calls on MPs to debate the matter in the House of Commons with potential plans for Alfies Law.
Alfie Evans is not the first little boy to be held hostage by the court system and the healthcare system. There have been many other cases where courts and doctors have made the life or death decisions for a patient over the objections of their family.
One of those cases involved a little boy named Charlie Gard. In essentially the exact same circumstance, the British courts decided that his parents did not have the right to make the decision whether his life support was disconnected and a hospital yanked his life support without their consent. Charlie ultimately died not long after that happened. Chris Gard and Connie Yates little boy passed away just before 1st birthday in July 2017.
Horrid. Just like the murder of Terri.
Maybe JEB! can be appointed Grand Pooba of the NHS.
I thought Jihadis were evil SOBs. The DHS, and the Parliamentarians that defended or pushed this decision are EQUALLY evil. But we do live in the era of infant sacrifice (abortion) so I shouldn’t be surprised.
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